The Ministry of Health has launched the One Health Project, which aims to strengthen the country’s ability to prevent, prepare for, and respond to public health emergencies.
The launch took place at the Aiden Hotel in Georgetown. The project is being financed through a combined US$22 million investment, with US$15 million from the Pandemic Fund and an additional US$7 million from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA).
According to Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, the initiative was born out of Guyana’s commitment to advancing a resilient and secure healthcare system. He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for the development of the proposal.
“We pulled all of this experience that we’ve had and put it into this proposal because we don’t want a repeat of what we had to go through (COVID). It was a harsh experience for us.”
The project focuses on four core areas: enhancing laboratory and workforce capacity, strengthening health surveillance systems, improving one health coordination and capacity, and establishing rapid, data-driven health surveillance networks.
Dr. Anthony noted that the project’s approach takes into account the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, highlighting the need for robust disease surveillance across all sectors.
“We need to have better surveillance of the animal population because somatic diseases can easily jump from that population to the human population.”
Meanwhile, Executive Head of the Pandemic Fund Priya Basu explained that the Fund was established during the COVID-19 pandemic to support multilateral financing for pandemic preparedness in low- and middle-income countries.
“We focus on multi sectional one health approaches that aim to break silos. And, we take a disease diagnostic approach by supporting countries to build capacity that will help with early detection of multiple pathogens.”
Basu added that her organisation’s enthusiasm for supporting the Government of Guyana stems from its commitment and courage in taking this bold step of being prepared.
“Together, we are making an investment in health, economic security, and long-term prosperity.”
Meanwhile, Practice Manager for Health, Nutrition, and Population (HNP) in Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, Tanya Dmytraczenko, commended Guyana for surpassing expectations.
“Guyana succeeded in preparing a World Bank project in four and a half months – well below the 12-month average we typically expect. That’s an extraordinary accomplishment,” she said.
Dmytraczenko further noted that the One Health project in Guyana is built on a strong technical foundation and is poised to serve as a regional model for integrated health preparedness.
“This project sets the stage for groundbreaking work and cross-border collaboration across the Caribbean,” she added.
